A disturbing trend has taken hold in Calabar, Cross River State, where young girls between 15 and 30 are increasingly getting hooked on shisha, a flavoured tobacco mixed with molasses and inhaled using a water pipe.

These young women are easily recognizable with their king-size nose rings, multiple earrings, and ankle chains and often dressed in revealing outfits. Despite the dangers, these girls, often students, are puffing away in nightclubs, hotels, and even on street corners, risking nicotine addiction, cancer, and other serious health issues.

Implications

NDV findings show that they usually have many puffing sessions every night, making them look drowsy, sleepy, tired and vulnerable to exploitation. Some become dispossessed of their reasoning ability, engaging in risky behaviours to feed their addiction.

“I can’t do without shisha,” said Akpana, a student in one of the tertiary institutions in the northern part of the state. “It boosts my confidence, and I can talk to anyone who needs a fight. He or she will get enough from me.”

She claimed shisha is cheaper and more convenient than cigarettes. “It is cheaper than cigarettes because a single shot of stuff can give the smoker what one packet of cigarettes cannot. You just stay in one corner of your room and puff it. It does not smell like cigarettes so, nobody, not even your roommate, will know you are smoking unless she sees the smoke – which fades away very fast,” she added.

Habit

Another shisha user, who simply identified herself as Anne, was seen running round the streets scantily dressed shouting: “We have done it! We have done it! We have done it!” to no one in particular.

When asked after she calmed down what made her so hilarious, she retorted: “Normally, one must take something to keep her up. Life is boring and without joy. I get to do what keeps me happy. Shisha gives joy.”

Experts have warned that shisha is just as harmful as cigarettes, if not more so, with a single session equivalent to smoking over 100 cigarettes. The trend has also been linked to promiscuity, prostitution, and other anti-social behaviours.

A lecturer in the Department of Social Works, University of Calabar, Dr Maureen Ettenma told NDV that recalcitrant attitude is what is driving girls into hard drugs and other anti- social behaviours in spite of the warning from the school authorities. “These drugs are readily available everywhere. You won’t believe that some of these girls would prefer taking ice or shisha to food. Even as the Vice- Chancellor keeps warning that anyone caught taking hard drugs would be expelled, such messages often fall on deaf ears.”

She said parents have to take their responsibilities in parenting more seriously. “In the near future, if the tide continues, it would become normal to see a girl puffing shisha openly like one smoking a cigarette, so the role of parents is very crucial in this regard to stem or eradicate this deadly habit in the young ones.”

Societal pressure

A male student who runs one of the Christian worship centres in the University of Cross River, Emefiong Jones, blames societal pressure and the desire to belong to the top class. He urged the authorities to crack down on drug outlets and educate young people.

“Some of these girls cultivate these attitudes right under the nose of their parents. When they get out, they become worse. To meet the cost for these drugs, they indulge in things like prostitution, lesbianism and other despicable things to raise money to buy the drugs. Government must come down hard on these drug outlets and those operating them if the situation must be stopped or curtailed,” he said.

“As the shisha epidemic spreads, it’s time for residents to take action – parents, educators, and authorities must unite to protect these young lives,” said Edet, a concerned public health worker.

Meanwhile, a source at the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency in Calabar has warned that those caught using or trading shisha will face the law. (Vanguard)